Brake advice

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum and bmws. I'm looking for advice on a brake upgrade.

I own a F30 328i and want to upgrade the brakes for better "street" performance. I don't plan on ever tracking the car. A good friend said I would be happy with stainless steel lines and better pads. I have also heard good things about stoptech.

I have also heard that putting a bbk on the front only would be a good move, but would that upset the balance of the car under braking?

I think if you never plan on tracking your car the first part of the advice is golden.
Replace the flex brake lines for a firmer pedal feel, and go for better pads.
You will have to decide what you think are better pads though.
Is less brake dust better for you, or more friction?
You could also consider other brake fluid. I like Motul myself.
But I do track my car.
If you don't track the car a BBK is pure cosmetic...

I don't want to spend 7k on brakes if there will not be a huge improvement on the street. I'd rather get the engine in my 8 rebuilt, or add a larger turbo to the N20 if it ever proves capable of supporting that kind of power.

I don't mind more brake dust if it leads to better bite and feel. Do you guys recommend a particular brand for the lines and pads?

I don't want to spend 7k on brakes if there will not be a huge improvement on the street. I'd rather get the engine in my 8 rebuilt, or add a larger turbo to the N20 if it ever proves capable of supporting that kind of power.

I don't mind more brake dust if it leads to better bite and feel. Do you guys recommend a particular brand for the lines and pads?

I have no idea, talk to @ModBargains they will point you in the right direction.

Brake pads with more friction are usually race pads.
They will be squeeky, read: can be loud as $#@! if you choose the higher friction pads.
But they will transform the braking performance a lot.

If you don't mind that your car sounds like an old lorry arriving at a traffic light.
The race pads I use are Racing Brake XT960. These pads, unlike other racepads I used, are high friction pads even when cold.
They are truely awesome on a track, transforming your brake system performance a lot, and I loved them to death as DD pads as well, but after a month of street use (leading up to another trackday) my wife kindly demanded I changed them for street pads ASAP.

So for street use I have the ET500 pads (also from Racing Brake). They have slightly better friction performance than OEM, but no dust at all and not the initial hard bite of the OEM pads.

I have Goodridge brakeline replacements. They are not too expensive and perform excellent. Be sure to replace all 6 rubber lines. Leave none behind.

Brake pads with more friction are usually race pads.
They will be squeeky, read: can be loud as $#@! if you choose the higher friction pads.
But they will transform the braking performance a lot.

If you don't mind that your car sounds like an old lorry arriving at a traffic light.
The race pads I use are Racing Brake XT960. These pads, unlike other racepads I used, are high friction pads even when cold.
They are truely awesome on a track, transforming your brake system performance a lot, and I loved them to death as DD pads as well, but after a month of street use (leading up to another trackday) my wife kindly demanded I changed them for street pads ASAP.

So for street use I have the ET500 pads (also from Racing Brake). They have slightly better friction performance than OEM, but no dust at all and not the initial hard bite of the OEM pads.

I have Goodridge brakeline replacements. They are not too expensive and perform excellent. Be sure to replace all 6 rubber lines. Leave none behind.

How were those pads on your rotors?

OP:
Start with pads/lines/fluid/tyres.
If you want the BBK look, perhaps just have your calipers painted.

I have RB oversized rotors in the front and BMW Performance disks on the rear wheels, and these pads are very easy on both type of rotors.
Well, for the RB's that is to be expected for the pads are designed for them, bu even the BMW P disks are holding up reasonably well. They do wear a little more though.

The worst part of the stock system is the initial bite of the stock pads in my opinion. I replaced mine with Hawk HPS which have a much more linear feel, and will undoubtedly handle heat a little better. They also dust substantially less. Look into using a product like CRC Brake Disc Quiet if you are concerned about noise. You should be able to find it at the auto parts store. I think upgrading the lines to SS ones is a good idea as well. There are six in all, if you buy a SS line kit, make sure you are getting six lines. Changing the brake fluid should be part of standard maintenance, every two years or so, but as DavidV is saying, you could changing it now to move to a fluid with a higher boiling point. Make sure you use fluid with the proper DOT specification!

There is no need to change rotors or calipers to anything other than stock replacements if you are not tracking the car on a road course. I found Zimmerman zinc coated rotors for a good price. These seem to be the OE rotors. If you choose not to replace the rotors because they are within the wear limits, use a product like BRM flex hone for rotors to resurface the rotors which allows proper "bedding in" of the new pads. There really is no need to replace the rotors if they are within the wear tolerance, just resurface them if you are replacing the pads.

Like everyone else has said go with some new pads, fluid and lines. I may be biased because I own stoptech products but I'm happy with them and would recommend them to anyone looking for a low dust, quiet and streetable upgrade.

I have tracked on them, and put them on EVERY car I own. For you, since you have NO track ideas, use their REDS. Cremaic, so LOW dust, and they grip like hell. Changing the brake lines, IMHO is HIGHLY overrated. YES I said it. Having been a track driver for over 30 years, you will NEVER see the difference on the street. Yes they look good, and IF you must do it, make sure they are DOT approved or you will find out the hard way if you are ever in an accident. Stock master cylinders and brakes just don't generate enough force to make the SS lines really make any difference. Sorry guys, but it is fact. Please fell free to do some 60-0 stop times before and after with SS lines and guess what 0 difference.

Changing the brake lines, IMHO is HIGHLY overrated. YES I said it. Having been a track driver for over 30 years, you will NEVER see the difference on the street. Yes they look good, and IF you must do it, make sure they are DOT approved or you will find out the hard way if you are ever in an accident. Stock master cylinders and brakes just don't generate enough force to make the SS lines really make any difference. Sorry guys, but it is fact. Please fell free to do some 60-0 stop times before and after with SS lines and guess what 0 difference.

Not sure if you understand the effect for brakeline replacement.
On the street and on track is is all about the pedal feel. There are no performance gains at all. The pedal firms up a lot with SS lines.
On track, if you really heat the braking fluid you'll notice a difference in pedal response for the rubber lines will become softer, but by that time you will have serious fading (unless on racing pads) and already be in a heap of braking problems.
You will have a hard time seeing the lines at all, so it is not a showpiece unless the car is on a bridge or parked at full steering lock...

Not sure if you understand the effect for brakeline replacement.
On the street and on track is is all about the pedal feel. There are no performance gains at all. The pedal firms up a lot with SS lines.
On track, if you really heat the braking fluid you'll notice a difference in pedal response for the rubber lines will become softer, but by that time you will have serious fading (unless on racing pads) and already be in a heap of braking problems.
You will have a hard time seeing the lines at all, so it is not a showpiece unless the car is on a bridge or parked at full steering lock...

I am going to have to agree here... I replace my lines with SS on my cars when possible. Even on my M3, it made a tremendous difference in pedal feel. Threshold breaking is MUCH easier, and the feel in general is perfectly firm - no sponge feeling.

I didn't do it for performance reasons, I did it for feel, reliability over time, and constancy over time. I think it's a cheap mod that everyone should do.

Not sure if you understand the effect for brakeline replacement.
On the street and on track is is all about the pedal feel. There are no performance gains at all. The pedal firms up a lot with SS lines.
On track, if you really heat the braking fluid you'll notice a difference in pedal response for the rubber lines will become softer, but by that time you will have serious fading (unless on racing pads) and already be in a heap of braking problems.
You will have a hard time seeing the lines at all, so it is not a showpiece unless the car is on a bridge or parked at full steering lock...

I do understand what you guys are saying, as I have been around alot of cars in my days. On my STOCK SCCA F class stang, the stainlesss lines did NOTHING. No feel increase, real or imaginary, no more brake life, read heat here, no more track time between fades period. And please ANYONE show me a balloned stock rubber hose with a stock master cylinder and prop valve. It simply will NOT happen unless it was damaged.

If you are doing it as a replacement, sure why not. If you are doing it for an upgrade, well lets just leave that one alone.

Good luck with your money guys as afterall it is your's.

PS: On the above car when I moved into the world challenge series, YES SS made a heck of a difference, but this was with a NEW master and prop valve and 13" rotors.